Cardinal Marc Ouellet said he's a bit stunned by the negative reaction to his public apology for the Catholic Church's past "errors," but he said he stands by his mea culpa, which he called the "first step in a journey."
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the archbishop of Quebec City, acknowledges that "some people are not satisfied with what I did."
(AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)
The archbishop's open letter of apology, published in Quebec francophone newspapers Wednesday, set off a storm of criticism from gay groups to women's organizations, who downplayed the act of contrition.
Even elected politicians reacted politely to the cardinal's words of remorse, with Quebec Finance Minister Monique Jérôme-Forget reminding that sorry doesn't change the past.
Speaking from Rome on Thursday, Ouellet insisted his gesture was made in the hopes of launching a new dialogue with lapsed Quebec Catholics.
"I am aware that some people are not satisfied with what I did, or maybe they criticize what I did," he told CBC News. "But it is a first step in a journey of dialogue in order to understand each other better. "
In his letter, Ouellet seeks forgiveness for the church's darkest deeds committed prior to 1960, including sexual abuse by priests, discrimination against women and homosexuals, and attitudes toward First Nations.
But he didn't name the Duplessis Orphans in the letter, an omission that was nothing else but a snub, according to a spokesman for the group.
The Duplessis Orphans, a group of Quebecers who were systemically abused in Roman Catholic institutions in the 1940s and 1950s, have long sought an apology from the church.
Ouellet said his open letter wasn't the right forum to address their concerns.
"I did not want to include them because I covered a lot of ground, and you saw the reactions," the cardinal said in a French portion of his interview.
"I didn't want to touch that question. I think we have enough material to reflect upon and talk about."
The open letter is an "act of peace," he said. "If we want to reconcile, and go further, we need to remove obstacles, and we need to beg for pardon."
Related
Internal Links
Video
- Dan Halton reports for CBC-TV (Runs: 2:13)
- Play: Real Media »
- Play: QuickTime »
External Links
(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in new window)
MORE MONTREAL HEADLINES »
- In Canada, shock and grief at Bhutto's death
- In Canada, people with roots in Pakistan struggle to adjust to the death of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
- Big consumer tax relief still years away: Flaherty
- It will take years before the federal government can bring in the kind of historic tax reductions for ordinary Canadians that it delivered for businesses in October, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said.
- Missing father could hold clues to Montreal murder case
- Montreal police are searching for a missing father of two considered to be an "important witness" in a murder case.
- Canadiens romp over lazy Lightning
- The Montreal Canadiens outworked Tampa Bay all night on Thursday, winning the game easily with more than a little help from Lightning defenceman Filip Kuba.
- Good year for Quebec unions: CSN
- Quebec's largest labour federation says its new year resolution is to continue fighting provincial laws that limit workers' collective bargaining rights.
Canada Features
Blog Watch
Most Blogged about CBC.ca Articles